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The Journal of South Asian Non-Proliferation January, 2008 Editorial Staff
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The Journal of South Asian
Non-Proliferation is an online compendium of non-proliferation related
publications.
It is a periodic compilation of news, official statements, and expert analyses
related to South Asian non-proliferation issues.
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Supporting worldwide understanding of South Asian non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament issues. The Journal of South Asian
Non-Proliferation CONTENTSNUCLEAR
RELATED ISSUES MISSILE RELATED ISSUES SUMMARIES
Pakistan
A Failing Nuclear Power by Arnaud De
Borchgrave, Washington (UPI) Dec 28, 2007. Pakistan is one of the world's
eight nuclear powers and the first one to be categorized as a failing state.
Not failed yet, but on its way, and the world's major powers are powerless to
correct the downward spiral. Some U.S. presidential hopefuls -- e.g., New
Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson -- are calling on President Pervez Musharraf to
resign. Pakistan
can survive latest chaos and bloodshed: analysts Islamabad (AFP) Dec
30, 2007 Born from chaos and bloodshed, and still steeped in turmoil 60 years
on, Pakistan has repeatedly defied predictions that the centre of the world's
only nuclear-armed Islamic nation cannot hold. While Benazir Bhutto's
assassination has renewed fears Pakistan will become another failed state
with a destiny determined by bombs instead of ballots, analysts say it has
been down this road before -- and survived. Pakistan is accustomed to seeing
its political leaders meet a violent end, to be followed by claims civil war
is at hand, and a kind of internal war has been part of the national fabric
since its birth in 1947, they say. Pakistan,
India swap nuclear lists Islamabad,
Jan 1 (AFP) Jan 01, 2008 Pakistan and India on Tuesday exchanged lists of
their nuclear sites under an agreement between the South Asian rivals to swap
such information annually on New Year's Day, the foreign ministry said. The
information was exchanged under a 1988 agreement on the prohibition of
attacks on each other's nuclear installations, a ministry statement said.
Pakistan has sparked international concern that its nuclear weapons could
fall into the wrong hands amid months of political turmoil which peaked with
the December 27 assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. Russia
Ships First Lot of Nuclear Fuel to Iran, Kremlin Dec. 17 -- Russia announced Monday
that it has delivered an initial shipment of nuclear fuel to the Bushehr
nuclear power plant in Iran, a step that officials in Moscow and Washington
said removes any need for Tehran to pursue a widely opposed uranium
enrichment program. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it
had received written assurances from the government in Tehran that the 82
tons of fuel would be used only at the Bushehr plant, where construction has
been dogged by delays amid suspicions that Iran was pursuing a nuclear
weapons program. The oil-rich country insists that the plant, which will
generate electricity, is part of an effort to diversify its energy sources. Frosty
Friendship. 1 January 2008, Frontline:
The days of privileged relationship that Moscow and New Delhi enjoyed, from
the 1960s to the 1990s, seem to be definitively over, but Russia will remain
a top defence partner of India in the foreseeable future. Seventy per cent of
the military hardware in the inventory of the Indian armed forces is of
Russian origin. Moscow has pledged to supply nuclear-powered ÒAkulaÓ class
submarines to the Indian Navy on lease for seven years. MusharrafÕs
Last Jam, Foreign Policy, January 2008. The tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto
was merely the coup de gr‰ce for a U.S. strategy that was already doomed to
failure. When Pervez Musharraf falls, too, will American leaders finally wake
up and see Pakistan for what it is, not for what they wish it to be? Iran's
top nuclear negotiator reshuffles team Tehran (AFP) Jan 1, 2008. Top
nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili has made three key changes at the Iranian
National Security Council, replacing figures seen as close to his predecessor
Ali Larijani, media reported on Tuesday. Jalili, a faithful ally of President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was named secretary of the council in October when
Larijani resigned after falling out with the president. According to a decree
issued by Jalili, Mehdi Bokhraie, who has headed think tanks at the army and
the elite Revolutionary Guards, replaced Ali Monfared as the council's
foreign policy head, Iranian newspapers reported. Ahmad Khaledi, a former
deputy commerce minister, was named director in charge of economic policy in
place of Mohammad Nahavandian. Jaili also appointed the former director of
the official IRNA news agency, Ahmad Khadem-ol Meleh, as the official for
communications, replacing Abdol Reza Rahmani Fazli.
India
to double cruise missile output. Published: Dec. 31, 2007 MOSCOW, Dec. 31
(UPI) -- The Russian-Indian joint venture BrahMos has purchased a
manufacturing plant in south India BrahMos plans to use the new facility to
turn out twice as many supersonic cruise missiles as before, a company
spokesman said Monday, RIA Novosti reported. The Indian state-owned company
Kerala Hightech Industries Ltd. sold the facility to BrahMos, and the
increased manufacturing capacity will allow the number of cruise missiles
being produced to rise from 25 a year to 50 a year, the report said. Russia
Denies Planning Missiles for Iran. 28 December 2007 MOSCOW (AP)
— The federal agency overseeing Russia's military exports on Friday
denied reports that the country is planning to deliver a powerful new
anti-aircraft missile system to Iran. Iran's defense minister had said
earlier this week that Russia was preparing to equip Iran with the S-300
missile system, which would dramatically increase the country's ability to
repel an attack. But Russia's Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service
denied the claim in a brief statement. "The question of deliveries of
S-300 systems to Iran, which has now arisen in the mass media, is not
currently taking place, is not being considered and is not being discussed at
this time with the Iranian side," said the agency, known by its Russian
initials, FSVTS. Indian
air force to induct indigenous SA missiles. 27 December 2007 NEW
DELHI, (Xinhua) -- The Indian Air Force (IAF) is all set to acquire a
squadron-strength of the indigenously developed Akash surface-to-air missile,
local newspaper The Tribune reported on Thursday. Speaking on the sidelines
of a function on Wednesday, Chief of Air Staff Marshal Fali Homi Major said,
"We will soon begin the process of inducting the Akash." "The
user trials have just concluded. We are awaiting the report on this, after
which we shall initiate the process of inducting a squadron-strength of the
missile," the Air Chief Marshal said. However, it was not clear how many
of the missiles would eventually be inducted. A squadron strength would mean
that the IAF would deploy 16 to 18 batteries of the missile that could engage
targets at a height of 25 km. U.S. Missile
"Defence" Key To Survivable Nuclear War. DECEMBER 2007 (IPS) - The real reason for the
Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) the United States wants to place in Poland
and Czech Republic is Washington's perverse desire to be able to wage and win
a nuclear war, writes Jan Oberg, director and co-founder of the Transnational
Foundation (TFF) in Lund, Sweden, and peace and conflict researcher. In this
article, Oberg writes that BMD represents a fundamental break with deterrence
because it aims to prevent affected countries from successfully retaliating
against a hypothetical first nuclear strike by the U.S., making it possible
to fight and win a nuclear war without any harm to itself. Since September
11, 2001, no one uses the word terror in reference to nuclear weapons despite
the fact that they dwarf the threats (pretended or real) from today's
''terrorism''. Top Weapons Experts Explore Ways to Reduce the Global Risk of Nuclear Weapons. December 20 2007 The danger inherent in nuclear arms proliferation far outweighs other threats from weapons of mass destruction, according to two top U.S. weapons experts, and they warned that intense political leadership must focus on halting the spread of nuclear technology and on dismantling many of the weapons in existing arsenals. At a debate co-sponsored by AAAS, Linton Brooks and Joseph Cirincione said other weapons of mass destruction—meaning chemical and biological weapons—also pose dangers. But they cannot compare in destructive power with nuclear weapons, which could have immediate and long-term global impacts if used in large numbers, the two experts said. "Only two issues threaten global catastrophe: nuclear war and global warming," said Cirincione. "Both are caused by machines we made; both are reversible. But, in our rush to solve one, we cannot make the other worse. Expanding nuclear power could spread the technologies for nuclear weapons. We cannot allow that. We need more leaders who can connect the dots."
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